East End Fiscal Cliff May Be the Expiring Estate Tax Law

As quietly as a couple walking their dog along the edge of the ocean late at night, the Estate Tax change will arrive Tuesday, Jan 1.

It will have a huge effect on residents of the East End of Long Island for many reasons. First of all the exemption goes from $5 million to $1 million, basically meaning an estate that was less than $5 million paid zero tax. So most estate planning that was done is now obsolete, so you should call your estate planner, a job I did 10 years ago, but now have nothing to do with, but I felt the need to write this because it is a tax nightmare. This Wall Street Journal graph makes my point best.

Estate Size       Tax Burden for Survivors

$1 million          $0

$2 million          $0

$3 million          $0

$4 million          $0

$5 million          $0

$6 million          $308,000

$7 million          $658,000

$8 million          $1,008,000

$9 million          $1,358,000

$10 million         $1,708,000

2013

Estate Size       Tax Burden for Survivors

$1 million          $0

$2 million          $435,000

$3 million          $945,000

$4 million          $1,495,000

$5 million          $2,045,000

$6 million          $2,595,000

$7 million          $3,145,000

$8 million          $3,695,000

$9 million          $4,245,000

$10 million         $4,795,000

(Thanks to estate-planning law firm Mark S. Eghrari & Associates in Smithtown, N.Y., for crunching the numbers.)

So why is no one talking about it because quite frankly many properties on the East End may be valued over $5 million alone. When I spoke with Senator Gillibrand about this she said to me, one-on-one, that she was working in committee to get some sort excursion for farms in a new law, but there is no new law. If you are concerned about this issue perhaps you should contact Congressman Tim Bishop and Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. look at those numbers, ouch!!!!!